


That's Not How You're Supposed to Fish!

by DragonGirl218



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Catfish Noodling, Fishing, M/M, Noodling, besides questionable safety concerning noodling, but gladio likes some action in his fishing, noct just wants to fish in peace, otherwise no questionable content, two f-bombs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonGirl218/pseuds/DragonGirl218
Summary: Prince Noctis has gone to the Duscae region for a good old fashioned fishing trip.  Just him and the peacefulness of nature, with just a bit of excitement from the fish....That is not how things work out, thanks to some hick wrestling with the fish in the distance.





	

Noctis inhaled deeply, taking in the calming scent of petrichor after the recent rains in the Alstor Slough.  He exhaled a sigh as he took a step forward on the dock.  A simple flick of his wrist called his fishing rod to hand with a small shower of crystals in its wake.  He carefully replaced the line with a fresh spool and pondered over which lure to pick, until he decided with a chuckle upon the Yellow Poppeck to test the waters.  It seemed a fitting start, so close to the Wiz Chocobo Post, after all.

With that sorted out, he scanned the waters to see where the fish might lie.  The water was clear in the diffuse light of the overcast day -- enough light to illuminate the small lake’s contents, but not so much that it glared off the water’s surface.  A few flashes of movement in his peripheral caught his attention, and so he cast toward the spot where he presumed the corresponding fish were.

Then came the strategic part of things.  He played with the reeling speed to entice the fish and swung his rod this way and that to get some horizontal distance out of his cast as well.  He needed the right balance of speed and patience, which made him oblivious to everything outside of his direct line of sight.  He spied one fish in particular, a rather large one even, that was interested in his lure.  Time to be more careful.  That one fish was all he was focused on.

_SPLASH!_

Noct jerked to attention as the sound disturbed both him and the fish from their game of cat and mouse.  His eyes darted to the right -- the source of the sound that could all too easily range from an angry monster to a drowning sightseer.  What he saw was… unexpected, to say the least.

The source of the commotion was a strongly-built man who was likely in his twenties with wing tattoos down his arms, long brown hair, and a scar over his left eye.  He was also shirtless.  And holding a huge catfish in his arms… though it looked like one of his arms was _in_ the catfish’s mouth…?

“...What the fuck?” the Prince uttered in shock.  It seemed that he was louder than intended, since the catfish man looked his way almost immediately.

“What?  You never gone fishing before?” he asked as he walked to the shore and gracelessly plopped his fish on dry land.

“You call _that_ fishing?” Noct asked with a huff of disdain.  “Looks more like some weird form of mud wrestling.

“It’s called _noodling_ and it’s far more technical than just tossing a hook in the water and pulling a crank,” the stranger replied with similar tone.

Noctis scoffed at that.  “As if!  It’s taken me years to get this good!  What do you do, just put some bait in your hand and grab the darned fish?”

The other man guffawed at that.  “Nah, no bait.  Just nerves of steel and raw strength.”  He looked Noctis over before giving a chuckle.  “I doubt you have either.”

“Ohhhhh it’s _on_ now!” the Prince replied with fire in his eyes.  He flicked his rod away, tossed his jacket off toward the shore, pulled his shirt off, and leapt into the water.  He hissed as he tried not to show any reaction to the chilly water; his determination kept his face mostly neutral on that subject.

He stomped up to the man, glared at him, and asked, “So what do I do?”

The noodler appraised him for a moment, then a small smile tugged at his lips.  Whoever this kid thought he was, he had a good bit of spunk.  He liked that.  “Aight.  Simple enough.  Dive under, stick your hand in a catfish hole, wait for the fish to chomp down and then pull it out.”

Noctis narrowed his eyes.  That sounded fucking insane…!  ...Then again, this man seemed insane for doing it.  Either way, he’d already committed to it, so he had to give it a shot.  He took a deep breath before he ducked into the water.  Things were just clear enough for him to open his eyes as he scanned about for a good...hole?  God that sounded awful, like something out of that porno he accidentally clicked on when he was a teen…

Ah, there!  A series of rocks were arranged like a cave, which seemed...like what he was going for?  The Prince surfaced to get a new breath of air before going under once more.  He tentatively reached his arm towards the cave until his ire at the challenge fueled him to shove his hand right up in there.  His hand flailed this way and that, feeling for anything living -- the movement was kicking up enough fine silt that he couldn’t see in very well.

Meanwhile, the tattooed man chuckled to himself.  He doubted the scrawny punk would be able to catch anything.  He didn’t know the technique, and even if he did, he didn’t have the muscle to earn victory.  The sudden sound of splashing and bubbles bursting broke him out of his thoughts, however.  The raven-haired youth was floundering around, which could only mean that he’d grabbed something.  Color him impressed.

Noct’s head breached the water with a roaring “FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!”  The look of shock on the other man’s face soon gave way to disbelief as he saw a snapping turtle get pulled out of the water.  A fairly big one too -- a good ten or fifteen pounds -- latched onto the side of the Prince’s hand.  Blood was dripping from the reptile’s bite though it didn’t look like bones had been crushed at least.  Noctis flailed his hand around in an attempt to get the turtle off, but it wasn’t until he stuck his hand under water again that the animal let go.

The man laughed heartily at the situation, which drew a glare from the Prince.  “What the hell was that?!”

“It’s called a snapping turtle,” he replied with an edge of snark.

“I know that much!  You deal with this crap just to catch one stupid fish?!” he asked, bewildered.

“Yeah, it’s a hazard,” he agreed.  “You didn’t catch any fish though,” he pointed out.

“Stupid turtle had other ideas…” Noct griped.  He glared at the water and grumbled in the direction of the “stupid” fish and the “traitorous” turtles.  Suddenly he felt a slap on his shoulder and nearly toppled forward into the water before looking up at the crazy noodler.

“Considering you even tried it -- and with such passion -- I’d say you’ve proven yourself though.  Name’s Gladio, by the way,”  he said as he stuck his hand out.

“...Noctis.”  He took the hand and shook, though afterwards he had to wave his hand afterwards to relieve the pain of Gladio’s more than firm shake.  He still looked at the man quizzically, unsure of where this was going.

“It’s getting near lunchtime.  Wanna share a meal?  That fish is a bit too big even for me.”  Gladio gave a hearty laugh at his own joke.

“Uh...sure,” Noct agreed with a casual sort of hesitation.  It couldn’t be too bad, right?  Worst case scenario, he could always warp the hell out of there.

Thus the two men waded back to the shore, gathered up their discarded clothes and catch, and went off to where Gladio’s campsite was located.

It was the start of a strange, fish-based relationship.

**Author's Note:**

> I might make a second chapter with Gladio trying Noct's fishing style. We'll see.


End file.
